Eurozone

Sky Sports analyses the English clubs' performances in the Champions League on Wednesday night as Arsenal won and Manchester City snatched a point.

Last Updated: 03/10/12 11:14pm

Mario Balotelli levelled for Man City with a controversial late penalty

Arsenal claimed all three points in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night, while Manchester City were fortunate to take one. Here, Sky Sports analyses the highs and the lows, the performances of the referees and gets the opinion of expert pundits.

Manchester City 1 Borussia Dortmund 1

Highlight

There were so many saves from Joe Hart, but his two in quick succession from Mario Gotze in the first half were excellent. First he came off his line to block one shot, before getting a vital hand to turn a driven shot onto the bar.

Lowlight

After such an enthralling end-to-end contest, it was a shame that City's equaliser was gifted to them by a questionable refereeing decision. The Dortmund players surrounded the official at the final whistle, but Jurgen Klopp at least had the grace to shake his hand.

Man of the Match

Joe Hart. The Manchester City goalkeeper produced an inspired performance to keep Borussia Dortmund at bay. Opposite number Roman Weidenfeller was equally impressive, but had much less to do in the second period, while Hart was busy for the full 90 minutes.

Referee

Pavel Kralovec did not cover himself in glory with his late decision to award Manchester City a contentious penalty. There is no doubt that Sergio Aguero's shot struck Neven Subotic's arm, but it was from point-blank range and there was no intent.

Opta Fact

Dortmund had only 35.9 per cent of the possession, but created almost double the goalscoring opportunities of their hosts, which proves that it is not always necessarily how much of the ball you see, but what you do with it.

Sky Sports Verdict

Graeme Souness on Joe Hart: "He was stopping things going in the back of his net that he wasn't entitled to. If three or four had gone past him then nobody would have complained."

Arsenal 3 Olympiakos 1

Highlight

Aaron Ramsey's delightful finish at the death wrapped up victory for Arsenal that added a much-needed gloss to an otherwise hard-earned win over an organised Olympiakos side.

Lowlight

Thomas Vermaelen had an extremely erratic night. His first-half performance was riddled with errors and in the second half he made more attacking runs than any of Arsenal's forward players to often leave his defence vulnerable.

Man of the Match

Kieran Gibbs continues to improve by the day. His industry down the left was key to many of Arsenal's attacks and defensively he dealt with whatever danger was thrown at him with composure and strength.

Referee

Svein Oddvar Moen had a solid, albeit very quiet night. The yellow cards he issued to Laurent Koscielny and Pablo Contreras were fully justified and he called all the bigger decisions correctly.

Opta Stat

Arsenal had a passing success rate of 88.7% and made 645 passes, which on the surface is something of a surprise given how sloppy they looked for large parts of the first half. In contrast, Olympiakos' passing success rate was 71.3% and they made just 359 passes.

Sky Sports Verdict

Alan Smith: "They owe a huge debt of thanks to Gervinho for his industry and desire. He dragged the team around and got the goal. He made the second and he was a great plus for them tonight. He quite rightly got a standing ovation from the Arsenal supporters who haven't always been his biggest fans. He's enjoying a nice purple patch and it's come at the right time here."